Essay On Racial Profiling In America

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”, is what Martin Luther King Jr. said, while hoping that society will change their view towards a different race. America’s society has neglected to acknowledge this quote made by an activist. They have tried to change but all changes are reverted. But this idea is mostly neglected in the law applied to citizens of the United States. Although it is believed that racial profiling had decreased over the past one hundred years, it still surfaces in America’s society.
One way the history of America exhibited a lot of grievous activities that involved racial profiling. According to

Cha-Jua over one hundred years ago colonial governments enacted “slave codes”. These codes allowed slave owners to legally abuse and whip those of a different race. While rape and murder were also legal if an African-American was the victim. A judicial order in the southern region created a code that militiamen could arrest and detain anyone who was black if found on the street or even aroused suspicion(n.pag.). Cha-Jua was most likely implying that African Americans had no rights. They could have been killed and no punishment would be done to the murderer. No justice was served. Especially when there was an order that militiamen, people of the law, could use racial profiling to arrest a random African American off of the street for no rationale. These codes were not even the worst of it according to Staples, “As early as the 1690s, court officials in Philadelphia authorized the police to take up any “Negro” seen “gadding about” without a pass from his or her master”(n.pag.). Further meaning that those in Philadelphia may have not trusted the slaves because of their color. Through this those of a different race see the government as an institution that denies their natural rights especially when it involved not being able to do a simple task such as walking on the street.
Though America’s history decreased the amount of racial profiling in society by getting rid of slavery, racial injustices are shown by the actions of the police.

The police did not even try to decrease these acts of racial profiling in fact they even encouraged racial actions. Another Cha Jua during the lynchings(Cruel racist acts specifically against African-Americans) which occurred from 1882-1910 occurred because of arousement from law enforcement, but also because the agents went against their equal protection responsibilities (Cha-Jua n.pag.). There are multiple examples of these horrific events that officers had persisted to encourage. These acts of encouragement and cheering on lead people to believe that it was okay to harm those for no reason besides the color of their skin. One of these lynching took place in 1920 that included a crowd of five to ten thousand people and three black men that were hung in front of a police station(Fedo vii). Showing that the police had done nothing to stop the incident, but could even have encouraged future events by allowing three men to be hanged in front of a law enforcement building. Confirming that police have before encouraged events where racial profiling has been

included.
Even though racial profiling as improved,some police were and still are quick to judge those of a different race; which is an act of racial profiling. Towards the end of the book TKAM a black man by the name of Tom Robinson had been shot by law enforcement:
“They shot him,” said Atticus. “He was running. It was during their exercise period. THey said
he just broke into a blind raving charge at the fence and started climbing over. Right in front of them-”
“Didn’t they try to stop him? Didn’t they give him any warning?” Aunt Alexandra’s voice shook.
“Oh yes, the guards called to him to stop. They fired a few shots in the air, then to kill. They got him just as the went over the fence. They said if he’d had two good arms he'd have made it, he was moving that fast. Seventeen bullet holes in him. They didn’t have to shoot him that much, Cal...(Lee 315).
From this passage it is easy to draw that the guards felt the need to shot a man seventeen times when they only needed to shot him once. This could have been due to the fact that he was African American. But Tom also knew that if he tried to escape in front of the white guards, he would forsure be shot and later on killed. Further showing that the police assumed that since he was black is that he was a threat. A new study shows that more than 80% of those frisked and stopped in New York were of an African-American or Latino race (Staples n.pag.). Not only does this show how when some police stop to frisk someone they tend to start searching those of a different race compared to theirs. But also explain why African Americans are more commonly arrested than someone who is white. Since police interests may lie in someone who they assume is American and a white man who looks to be innocent.Another situation of racial profiling was when police responded to a call about an African-American male with a gun in a local park, within a time period of less than two seconds of the police arriving the suspect was killed. This African-American man turned out to be a twelve-year-old boy with the name of Tamir Rice. It turns out the boy was playing with a toy gun that lacked the orange tip to indicate it was not real. A security camera nearby saw that the boy did not even point the gun at the police revealing that the act was in fact racial profiling (Racism and Law Enforcement n.pag.). Due to the police has been so quick to criticize about the fact that he was an African-American with a gun, a 12 year old boy died. They didn’t take the time to check due to them thinking the boy was a threat. This quick action lead by an act of racial profiling has caused many more than just a 12 year old boy to die.According to Staples another event occurred in 1989 where a white male killed his pregnant wife and blamed a black male. This act of false allegations caused the police to racial profile young black men on the street. The man knew that if he could blame a black stranger it would be easier believed by the police who were also racially biased (Staples n.pag.). With this in mind it is easy to assume that the man knew how biased the police were, and assumed he would get away with it. Due to the man being white they assumed he was telling the truth even though he had almost no information besides the man being African American. In other words police officers have judged Americans based on racial profiling.